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Farewell to Kennedy in funeral he helped plan

Barack Obama yesterday paid a poignant public farewell to Senator Edward Kennedy, the veteran Democratic powerbroker, whom he described as "the heir to a weighty legacy . . . a champion to those who had none". After a sombre day of rare political unity in Washington, Kennedy was last night being buried in Arlington national cemetery, close to brothers John and Robert, after a moving funeral service in Boston at which the president led America's mourning for the scion of one of its greatest political families.

His voice breaking as he paid tribute to "the baby of the family who became its patriarch", Obama hailed Kennedy as "a force of nature" from an age "when adversaries still saw each other as patriots".

He, three former presidents and politicians of all hues had gathered in Boston under dark clouds to mark the passing of a flawed but potent deal-maker whose life was marred by tragedy